LETTER: The idea of adding population to Earth is outrageous

The column by Victor Joecks in Wednesday’s Review-Journal left me stunned, amazed and in complete disbelief. How in the world can anyone with sound mind and body support a cause to increase our planet’s population?

Our current overpopulation is the root cause for all of the Earth’s maladies. Climate change, famine, water shortages and pollution are all fueled simply by the needs of just too, too many souls.

A few decades back, the Union of Concerned Scientists forecast that our planet might be able to recover if the global population didn’t exceed 2 billion. Today that number has exploded to 7.8 billion — and it’s still climbing.

Mr. Joecks quotes Elon Musk, who believes that “civilization is going to crumble” without dedicated global population expansion. Mr. Joecks continues by relaying that Pope Francis warns that we are in a “demographic winter.” Really? We’ve consumed more than 61 percent of the world’s known natural resources while trying to keep up with society’s unrealistic demands.

Mr. Joecks highly recommends that couples who are able should have at least one more child than planned. He states that “civilizations can’t survive without more children.” Huh? We can’t really feed the masses of today. How in all rational conscience can anyone believe that an increased birth rate would be in any way beneficial?